1 Thessalonians 2:4 - Letting the Lord Decide

1 Thessalonians 2:4
"For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted
with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one
who examines the motives of our hearts." (NLT)

Too often when I look back at my life, I see those times when my impatience
ruled me..........I just had to have this or that......right
now............didn't want to wait. Invariably in those times when I got
what I wanted when I wanted it, the luster wore off quite
quickly...........or by getting what I wanted some unforeseen consequence of
having it would pop up........something that I never anticipated.

I can look back now and see all the times I tried to engineer things in my
life to fit my preconceptions. And in almost all the cases I can recall, my
expectations were either met momentarily or not at all.

And the same thing goes for my walk with the Lord. When I was a young child,
I used to pray fervently for the things *I* wanted and would get angry with
the Lord when most of the time I didn't get what I asked for. For the few
times that my prayers were answered in the way I intended.........I found
out quickly that there were some unexpected consequences attached to what I
asked for.

Looking back at it now, I can see clearly that the Lord was trying to get me
to see that His way is the best way, but I was too consumed with myself to
pay attention to Him.

So the scripture tonight really spoke to me about making sure I'm in a place
where God is making the choices for me. I have a miserable track record when
I make those decisions.

The scripture is very plain.........."Our purpose is to please God, not
people.".............and that includes trying to please me. The Lord knows
what's best for me so if I put Him in control of those decisions, I know the
results will be what He wants........and in the long run that's all that
matters to me.

I still have my times when the latest gizmo catches my eye, and I begin to
want it..........but lately those times are getting far and few between. I
still have those times when I want to rush in with *my* solution to a
problem, but it isn't long before I back off and let the Lord handle it.

And He's given me a tremendous, unanticipated gift with all of
this.........I now have a peace in my life that transcends anything I've
ever had before............I feel Him close in everything I do............I
seek Him out to question Him..........petition Him.....and thank Him for the
time He spends with me. There is no greater gift to me than knowing He's
near.

David sings to the Lord in Psalms 16:11....."You will show me the way of
life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with
you forever." (NLT) How right he is!

Love in Jesus,

Jim

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"But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired."
(1 Corinthians 12:18 NASB)

This devotional was originally posted on CCI-Devo - Daily Group Devotionals on December 14, 2003 in post #429. It was written by Jim Ross, a former United Pentecostal Church member, who attends Christian Challenge International, the sponsor of the devotional group. The devotional is the copyright of Jim Ross and is reprinted on this site by permission.